Practice, the longest four letter word.
Today I’m going to begin a talk about the bane of many a musician’s existence. There are musicians who are born with an innate talent to work a musical instrument but never get out of their meager rut of an existence because they don’t know how to practice. There are others who are blessed with only mediocre skills but pull themselves up to levels of pleasurable performance that can only be obtained through nonverbal communication with other musicians, whether performing for a crowd or simply as a jam. Please notice that I earlier used the word work instead of play because, as one of my best friends Dr. Earl Hesse has said, whoever first used the words “play an instrument” did all musicians an incredible disservice. We all must learn to work our instruments. It’s not until we are finally at a performance venue or jamming with our peers that we play our instruments; only then does it come to full fruition as the fun of playing. I’ll expound later on why a benefactor should be paying a true musician to have that fun.
You will catch me using the word “play” when I speak about practicing on a musical instrument or rehearsing simply because it has been ingrained into my vocabulary. Sorry.
For now, let’s go on with practice. What is practice? It comes in many forms.
First let’s talk about warming up. This by necessity is different for different instruments, and please know that I include the voice as a musical instrument. For instance warming up for a drummer is somewhat different than warming up for a trumpet player. The type and size of the muscles involved affect part of the process. However, many of the reasons behind warming up are the same.
For most people, a warm up is what athletes do. They stretch and move the muscles to make them performance ready, pliable and nutrient engorged. For musicians it is the same although usually on a smaller and more site specific scale. When I was younger, warming up for this reason didn’t seem so necessary, and I’m not really sure that it was. My muscles were much more elastic and ready to work at a moment’s notice. But, unless you plan on stopping your musical career at about the age of 20, you should begin your warm ups when you begin practicing.
Besides bringing about the physical state of being performance ready, warming up has to do with the mental state. At an early age as well as later in life, warming up sends the signal to your brain that you are about to get down to the work at hand of manipulating your instrument. I think of it as a yogic exercise. It puts you in a state of being which prepares your body to act and react to the situations to come.
Because warm-ups are instrument specific, I won’t go into a great deal here about how to do them. For most, beginning with long/slow exercises is a great way to start. Listen carefully to the sound you are producing and make it as pleasing as possible. If at all possible, watch what you are doing. Use a mirror to make sure you are playing as comfortably and as naturally as you can. Do not use any extra muscles to perform the required action and produce the best sound.
Stretches and flexibility exercises are generally a good way to warm up, such as finger stretches on string or keyboard instruments, siren sounds on wind instrument mouthpieces or vocally, or simple muscle stretches for drums. These are items that a good instructor can teach you, so be aware of how important a teacher can be.
Probably the least palatable part of practice is repetition. I’ve had many students tell me, “I don’t need to practice that way” because:
1. “I practiced for several days and the next day I didn’t perform as well.” Practice is for consistency as well as improvement. Everyone has ups and downs in abilities just as you have ups and downs in moods. True professionals don’t have the luxury of being able to perform well 85% of the time. We’re after something above a 99% level skill factor. Even if you are an amateur or just having fun with your music, like a local musician who plays once a month at Bottles Beer Hall, a student playing in your local band, choir or orchestra, or a church musician who performs every Sunday, you still want to play the licks necessary to pull off the piece of music you’re performing every time it’s required. There’s not much that can match the feeling of a near flawless performance. Repetitious practice is the only way to own your licks.
2. “It stops me from being spontaneous.” This is probably the most ludicrous excuse of all. Creativity builds on itself. Yes, you may have certain licks that seemingly come out of nowhere that are highly musical and entertaining, but you’re going to wind up continuing to play them until everyone around you knows when they’re coming and could play them along with you. When you can play whatever you think, you’re starting to get there. When you can play it before you think it—that’s when it begins to be really fun. The spontaneity of jazz improvisation relies highly on such skills.
3. “It’s boring.” Yep, it can be. Make it as easy on yourself as you can. Have a specific place to practice all of the time and have it set up for practice. Keep everything you need in a comfortable place to get to and to work with. Answer this simple question, “Would you rather be bored for a short period of time by performing a simple task several times until you own it, or would you rather be bored for a long period of time by trying to perform a task for months and never quite getting it?” Usually the hardest part about practice is to simply start each session. Once you begin, it can become an enjoyable experience
Remember these words: Practice does NOT make perfect. Practice makes PERMANENT. PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. I didn’t come up with that philosophy, but it’s one of the truest statements I know.
That’s all for now; more on practicing later. We’ll talk about what to practice, and about ways to make it easier and more enjoyable.
As always, don’t forget to LISTEN!
One way to look at it.
We’ll be talking about music, arts, entertainment and many elements of the fine arts. Stick around.